Following the Wednesday shooting that killed nine, South Carolina lowered the U.S. and state flags to half-staff at the Capitol in Columbia, but the Confederate flag was not lowered. This created a striking juxtaposition, considering the alleged shooter, Dylann Roof, associated himself with Confederate imagery and racist ideology.

"In that South Carolina will never willingly take down the flag, the time has come for opponents to exercise their First Amendment right to free speech and burn the Confederate flag," former New York Times reporter Joe Lapointe wrote in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press on Friday.

One state legislator, Rep. Doug Brannon (R-Spartanburg County), told The Associated Press he believes it's time to remove the flag. It's “not just a symbol of hate, it’s actually a symbol of pride in one’s hatred," he said.

Activists Burn Confederate Flag In Response To South Carolina Shootings

Charleston Church Shooting Victims

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Ethel Lance

A relative of Ethel Lance, 70, who had worked at the church for 30 years, identified her as a victim in an interview with <a href="http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150618/PC16/150619404" target="_blank">The Post And Courier</a>.
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"I'm lost, I'm lost," Lance's grandson, Jon Quil Lance, told the media outlet. He described her as “the heart of the family."